Warning: include(/home/aldouspi/carp/Amazon2RSS-2.0.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home3/aldouspi/public_html/sherlockholmespastiches.com/the-case-of-emily-v.php on line 363

Warning: include(): Failed opening '/home/aldouspi/carp/Amazon2RSS-2.0.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/opt/php55/lib/php') in /home3/aldouspi/public_html/sherlockholmespastiches.com/the-case-of-emily-v.php on line 363

Sherlock Holmes Pastiches and Reviews:
"The Case of Emily V. by Keith Oatley"

Dedicated to the World's First Consulting Detective: Sherlock Holmes!

Here is the latest featured review of a Sherlock Holmes Pastiche:
The Case of Emily V. by Keith Oatley.

The Case of Emily V. by Keith Oatley

Reviewed By Scott Harker

Publisher: Minerva, Copyright 1993, First Edition.

The Case of Emily V. by Keith Oatley is an odd novel - less of a Sherlock Holmes adventure mystery,
than a character study. This is a literary novel that involves Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, Dr. Sigmund Freud
and a patient of Freud's. It was the 1994 Commonwealth Prize Winner for Best First Novel.

The Story: A young woman has caused the death of her "step father" on a mountain
near to where she teaches in Vienna. Her guilt over this
incident evetually leads her to become a patient of Sigmund Freud's. As the sessions progress interesting
psychological truths are revealed about Emily V., but she dare not reveal the root cause of her guilt.

Meanwhile in Merry Ol' England, Sherlock Holmes is anything, but merry. He is deep in another of
his bouts of melancholy. Dr. Watson is at his wit's end on how to help his friend, when he learns of a
new medical science of the mind being developed by a Doctor in Austria. He reads as much as he can
about the subject and then
decides that he must get Holmes to visit Sigmund Freud in person.

As events would have it, the "step father" of Emily V. is an important English diplomat and his
unexpected death has caused Mycroft Holmes to wonder if German spies killed him. Mycroft asks
his brother Sherlock to investigate, which fits Dr. Watson's desires perfectly. He and Holmes are soon
on their
way to Vienna where Dr. Freud resides.

Now there are two investigators looking into the death of the diplomat: Dr. Freud is
looking into
the mind of the woman who caused the death, while Holmes and Watson are searching for physical clues
and suspects...

The Writing: The writing is well-crafted, but be prepared for an intellectual exercise.
The narrative switches from the diary of Emily V. to the notes on the medical case by Dr. Frued as well
as the interpretation of events by Dr. Watson.

This is much like reading the chronicles of one of Sigmund
Freud's real cases. We receive insights into the thinking of the Great Psychologist as well as the
Great Detective as both the life and the mind of Emily V. are examined.

This is literature where the characters reasons for acting are as important as the plot elements.
Still the writing is strong enough to overcome any lack of adventure normally present in a
Sherlock Holmes pastiche.

The Rating:
...
I am giving this novel, a rating of 4 "Pipes." It is good story. And while I may not agree
completely with how Holmes
is protrayed in this book, the viewpoints provided about Holmes from Watson, Freud, and Emily V. are
worth the read by itself. And if you have ever had an interest in Dr. Freud and his work, this novel,
too, will be of interest to you.

How A Jewish Artist Reclaimed 'Mein Kampf'ForwardDespite his revulsion, Rubin couldn't burn the text. After all, burnt books were part of the reason why his maternal grandparents had fled Romania, as well as the impetus for Freud leaving Vienna. In 1933, Nazi sympathizers at a German university had ...

Is Woody Allen a Great Filmmaker? DiscussNew York TimesI would not swear to it, but it seems likely that the first time I heard Sigmund Freud's name, when I was around 11, was in a monologue in “Annie Hall,” when Alvy Singer cites Freud's “Wit and Its Relation to the Unconscious” as the source of a joke ...

Dr. Sigmund Freud and dreamsVillages-NewsIn 1895, Freud and Breuer published her case and called it Studien zur Hysterie (Studies in Hysteria). The patient herself called the treatment “the talking cure.” Using this case as a base, Freud created psychoanalysis, the treatment of emotional ...

The Parkland Students Talk Straight To AmericaHuffPostHall documented the internal changes in adolescents and external conflicts they have with their parents ― what he called their “storm and stress.” He advised that parents of adolescents use straight talk when discussing sensitive and turbulent topics ...and more »

What It Takes to Be a Whistle-Blower: DealBook BriefingNew York TimesSigmund Freud is reputed to have said that “sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.” The Supreme Court took that approach in deciding what is required to qualify for protection from retaliation as a whistle-blower. A provision in the Dodd-Frank Act defines ...and more »